Bolesław Piasecki
| birth_place = Łódź, Congress Poland, Russian Empire | death_date = | death_place = Warsaw, Poland | term_start = 1935 | term_end = 1939 | military_blank1 = | unit = Confederation of Nation, Home Army | serviceyears = 1939–1945 | rank = Lieutenant | battles = World War II | alma_mater = University of Warsaw | nickname = Leon Całka, Wojciech z Królewca, Sablewski | termstart2 = 1947 | termend = | successor 2 = | office2 = Leader of PAX Association | term_start2 = | office = | termend2 = 1979 | successor2 = Ryszard Reiff }} Bolesław Bogdan Piasecki, alias Leon Całka, Wojciech z Królewca, Sablewski (18 February 1915 – 1 January 1979) was a Polish politician and writer. Biography In interwar Poland he was one of the more prominent nationalist politicians, playing an important role in the leadership of Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny. In 1934 he was interned in Bereza Kartuska. After his release, he became the leader of the illegal, extreme right faction ONR-Falanga. This organisation advocated "Catholic totalitarianism" and is considered by many to have been a fascist movement. During the Second World War he fought the Nazis as a member of the Polish Underground, leading the grouping Konfederacja Narodu (merged into the Armia Krajowa in 1943) and taking part in the fighting around Vilnius. Afterwards, he was arrested by the Soviet NKVD, and in a drastic conversion from his previous stance began to cooperate with the Communist government in Poland.http://www.polityka.pl/archive/do/registry/secure/showArticle?id=3342382 After the war, in 1945, he cofounded and directed a so-called social progressive movement of lay Catholics, grouped around the weekly publication "Dziś i Jutro" (Today and Tomorrow). In 1947 he created the PAX Association and was the chairman of its governing body (until his death). After 1956, the importance of PAX diminished (and Piasecki's role along with it), though it remained a prominent organisation until 1989 and its successors still exist today. In later years, Piasecki was a member of the Polish Sejm from 1965, where he presided over the grouping of members associated with PAX. In 1971-1979 he was a member of the Polish Council of State. Honours and awards * Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari (1944) * Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1964), previously awarded the Commander's Cross (1955) * Order of the Banner of Work, 1st Class (1969) References Further reading *Mikołaj Kunicki (2005). "The Red and the Brown: Boleslaw Piasecki, the Polish Communists, and the Anti-Zionist Campaign in Poland, 1967-68". East European Politics & Societies 19 (2): pp. 185–225. *Dudek, Antoni/Pytel, Grzegorz (1990). Bolesław Piasecki. Próba biografii politycznej (Wstęp Jan Józef Lipski). Londyn: Aneks. . Category:1915 births Category:1979 deaths Category:Politicians from Łódź Category:Polish Roman Catholics Category:Camp of Great Poland politicians Category:Falangists Category:PAX Association members Category:Members of the Polish Sejm 1965–1969 Category:Members of the Polish Sejm 1969–1972 Category:Members of the Polish Sejm 1972–1976 Category:Members of the Polish Sejm 1976–1980 Category:Polish military personnel of World War II Category:Armia Krajowa officers Category:University of Warsaw alumni Category:Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Category:Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta Category:Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–89) Category:Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Category:National Radical Camp politicians